Acequia Vineyards and Winery

There’s Corrales, and then there’s Corrales Proper. By this I mean that there’s the Corrales I’ve always known-​tiny winding streets, old homes and families, cottonwoods draped over crumbling adobe huts and expansive, modern Southwestern estates-​and then there’s Proper, the wandering empty sandlots just adjacent to the sweet little township, to the west. For some alien reason, Corrales Proper is home to at least four mom-​and-​pop wineries, I had the pleasure of visiting three of ‘em during the bike & wine tour, and Acequia ended up edging out the competition.
First off, know that you’re not visiting these so-​called wineries for a Napa Valley-​esque experience. Acequia is a little suburban house (these are the Corrales suburbs) with a decent patio and an absolutely grand view of the Sandia Mountains. The green grass lawn is pocked with dog poop. There’s a teensy vineyard just south of the yard, but most of the grapes are grown down south near Deming. You’ll sip your glass upon their patio furniture. You might feel the impulse to dump what’s left of your red wine into the flower pot (I did) only to shoulder embarrassment when you notice they have a bucket for that (I did). And you’ll find yourself minimally enchanted.
Acequia essentially offers the gamut of varietals to please the tourist and local alike. The connoisseur will find the zinfandel approachable and the chardonnay a nice break from the wet stuff; this one is somewhat dry and oaked. But the local will drown in the sweeter stuff, there are easily three options, I wasn’t enamored. Didn’t matter. The owners will treat you like old friends, they’ll tell you their interesting backstory and explain why many of the wines are named after fowl. Completely worth a visit, promise. And the prices are very fair.
Get ready for that bike hike up the hill, though.

Acequia is definitely a smaller vineyard (a house on a few acres) with a vintner who holds a passion for wine-​making. We enjoyed their selection of whites the most, and talked with the vintner one-​on-​one. We had a good time!